Improvement in tobacco-boxes



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

. LEWIS F. BETTS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOBACCO-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 172,692, dated J annary 25, 1876; application filed September 28, 1875.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIs F. Bn'rrs, of the city of Chicago, State of Illinois, have invented a Tobacco-Box, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to the construction of tobacco-boxes in a very cheap manner, yet so that the same will be durable, efficient, and attractive in appearance; and it consists of a tobacco-box constructed wholly of two pieces of sheet metal-that is to say, the body of the box being made of one piece, and the cover of another piece, and with or without solder, in the manner hereinafter described.

That others may fully understand my invention I will particularly describe it.

The sheet metal is first cut with. (lie and punch, or other suitable methods, into blanks of proper shape. The blank A forms the body of the box, and the blank B forms the cover.

The blank A is formed with the elliptical portions 00 at its ends, and at the rear edge b are laps d cl, which, when turned over, form a part of the hinge. The front portion 0 is cut a little longer than the back, as at f f. The excess of length, being equal to twice the thickness of the parts a b c, is bent or formed up in shape. The ends a are turned up at right angles to the bottom A, and parallel to each other, and the front and rear portions are bent up, so as to correspond to' the curves of the parts a a. The edges of the rear portion 1) lie between the end pieces a a, as shown at e c, Fig. 2, and the front portion 0 is bent up and lies over the front edges of the end pieces a a, as shown at g g, Fig. 2.

The top B is jointed to the'rear edge of the part b by bending their respective laps cl (1 around a pivot-pin common to both parts. The ends h h are bent at right angles to cover the edges of the end parts a a, as shown in Fig. 2, and the front edge iis curved to fit the curve of the front edge g of the box, as shown in Fig. 2.

When the box is being closed the part i of the cover is forced down over the part c of the box, and in order to permit this move ment the part b of the box yields and springs inward, as it can do without hinderance from the side pieces a a. The front part 0 cannot yield, because the end pieces are behind and supporting it, and to keep the end pieces from being crushed in between the thumb and finger, (as it will generally be grasped when being opened or closed,) the front ends of the part a a may be soldered to the part c or a notch, 76, in the corner of said part 0 may enable its extreme edge to fall behind the end pieces, and so support them against pressure from without.

From the above description it will be observed that the box is made from two blanks out from sheet metal, and that the same may be formed or bent entirely by machinery, of a kind which is common and well understood; that the back is elastic and not likely to be deranged; that the front is formed so as to strengthen the joints at the front side of the box, and to render the same secure even if unsoldered.

The whole constitutes a neat and useful article,.which can be sold at a price but little in excess of the cost of the stock.

Spectacle-cases and other similar boxes may be constructed in the same way.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new is- 1. A tobacco box the body of which is formed from a sheet-metal blank fashioned with the elliptical end pieces a a, the rear side piece b bent up between said pieces a a, but unattached thereto, for the purpose set forth, and the front side piece 0 bent up and covering the edges of said end pieces a: a, as set forth.

2. The front side piece 0, out long enough to cover the edges of the end pieces a a, and provided with the notches k k, to interlock with said end pieces, as set forth. a

3. A tobacco-box formed with an interlocking cover, and one side unattached to the ends, so as to be capable of yielding inward, and by its elasticity holding the interlocking cover in place.

LEWIS F. BETTS. Witnesses:

HENRY G. WHITNEY, LEWIS F. JACOBS. 

